Spanky the Clown

(Jacksonville, Florida) Last October, the Jacksonville-based First Coast News staff was elated that one of its own employees, Thomas Riccio, had been selected by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey to join the circus as "Spanky the Clown." According to this report,

The staff at First Coast News wish Thomas the best and are happy he's worked so hard to achieve his dream. Just think how many thousands of children will smile because Thomas has the gift of making people happy.

The news team members were looking forward to seeing him when the circus tour went through Jacksonville. Unfortunately, it appears that Spanky has ceased traveling with the circus. While in North Carolina,

Thomas Riccio, 23, of Jacksonville, Fla., was arrested Friday by Fayetteville police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to face 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, the federal agency said Tuesday.

Riccio apparently was implicated in an international child pornography investigation and police found that he possessed thousands of images on his computer, many involving young children participating in sexual acts.

Consequently, Riccio has stopped putting smiles on children's faces, but I suspect there'll be some smiles on parents' faces now that Spanky's in the slammy.